Re: SOTD: Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Hermès Équipage (1970) Guy Robert Floral-Aromatic Chypre
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•Top Notes : Aldehyde, Bergamot Oil, Clary Sage Oil, Mace, Orange, Rosewood •Heart Notes: Carnation, Cinnamon, Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Pine Needle •Base Notes: Moss, Musk, Patchouli, Tonka, Vanilla, Vetiver
------------------A spicy-floral chypre from 1970, this is a heady combination laced with aldehydes and some clary sage in the top notes. Carnation is the head of the floral accord in the heart with jasmine and muguet completing the triad. A chypre base adds musk, coumarin, vetiver, and vanilla for depth and roundness. Some people find this slightly medicinal (I suspect the nutmeg and mace play a role in this impression); others, like me, just find it exotic, like a beautiful face endowed with a strikingly odd nose — but the tones are so warm and rich, the angles and planes are so perfect, the underlying structure so blatantly classical that the beauty of the whole is undeniable.